In His Presence

There are days in which you feel as though you are trudging through life on only the sometimes waning vapors of an obedient faith. Though you realize the Lord has not forsaken you, you long for a tangible reminder of His presence. That silence can be a vast well, one in which your soul so desperately wants to climb out of, but is instead forced to wait in patient stillness.

And then there are days in which He literally wraps Himself around your senses and you realize you are in His very presence.

I experienced God in that way today. My husband and I went to the mountain to go snowboarding and though the wind was so powerful that Timberline was closed, we drove up anyway and paused to take in the view.

The beauty of that moment took my breath away. The cerulean sky was without a single cloud and the snow whirled around the peak of the mountain like vapors of crystal smoke. Wind whistled through the evergreens in a powerful but haunting melody and the brightness of the sun against the pure white snow was so vivid, I had to shade my eyes. And it was there, when I lifted my eyes to the heaven, that I realized there was nothing in this moment but endless blue sky, a beautiful mountain and my God. It was His creation, His gift to me and the air was saturated with His presence. I stood there, in the stinging wind and let Him wash over me. Every burden I was carrying was suddenly gone, having taken flight on the powerful coattails of the air around me. My fears and doubts melted away like ice from the branches of the tree and I was once again reminded what it feels like to experience perfect contentment. I am loved. Oh, I am loved desperately.

Today was such a precious gift and one that filled my soul with a sense of refreshed completeness. It is my prayer that wherever God reveals himself to you, that you will be ready to receive it.

"In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him." Ps 95:4.